


To the Moon

by Rikamae



Category: Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: After Chapter 139, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I have one fear and that is that Senku can't go to space, I will spend my whole fanfiction career making Senku and co happy ok, Not Beta Read, everyone loves and supports Senku time, so this is how i cope, you learn a little bit about space training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:33:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22797886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rikamae/pseuds/Rikamae
Summary: Senku claims that he's not going to space and his friends strongly disagree.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 122





	To the Moon

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, enjoy this story that I had to get off of my chest before the next chapter comes out and possibly destroys me.

_ “You mean to tell us that bizarre suit was made by a ten year old?” One of the panel’s judges asked. _

_ “Did it actually help you?” _

_ “Course it didn’t!” Byakuya laughed. _

_ “Ah, didn’t think so…” Another judge mused. _

_ “However,” Byakuya scratched the back of his head, pride swelling in his chest. “Senku went to all that trouble making it for me! It was sink or swim. Thanks to him, I cleared the swimming test, and made it to this interview!” Byakuya looked up to stare directly into the eyes of the panelists. “I will become an astronaut and go to space! All in the service of science! Because at this point, that’s the only way I can honor Senku’s efforts!” _

* * *

“The moon! That’s so baaaaad!” Chrome pumped his fist into the air.

“I knew Senku-chan would say that…” Gen raised his hand to scratch his temple hesitantly. “Out of everything we’ve accomplished, this is still udacious-lay!”

“You’ve doubted Senku every step of the way, Gen!” Kohaku huffed as she crossed her arms. “If Senku says we can do it, then I know we can!”

“Space travel was hard for us in the modern time, as well,” Ukyo earnestly rose his hand to attract the other’s attention. “It took America nearly a decade to land on the moon!”

“A decade is about right,” Senku shifted his weight, resting his hands on his hips. “It could take us 10 years to make a space vessel large enough to get to the moon and back.”

“We can do it with Senku!” Taiju cheered. “He’s built plenty of rockets before!”

“That does it, then!” Ryusui snapped his fingers with enthusiasm. “Space! I will be the first man on the moon in over 3700 years!”

Kohaku raised an eyebrow. “Who says you get to go?” 

Francios stepped forward, eyes closed and a pleasant, knowing smile across their face. “I’m sure master Nanami would be pleased to buy his place among the crew by funding the development-”

“Sold!” Gen cried with a devilish grin across his fair face.

“Oh! Oh oh! Me too!” Taiju waved his arms in the air frantically. “I want to go to space with Senku!”

“And we could certainly use your endless energy, Taiju,” Ryusui adjusted his hat, the promise of adventure shining behind his eyes. “Taiju, Senku, and I… Sounds like the perfect space fairing team!”

“Yeah!” Taiju cried, followed by the laughter of their friends around them.

Senku crossed his arms. “No, it’s not. I’m not going.”

Heavy silence settled into the cabin of the Perseus. Wide eyes and open mouths were turned to Senku’s directions, all of them asking the same unspoken question…

“WHY NOT?” Taiju screamed into the deafening silence. Ukyo nearly jumped out of his skin. “But you’ve always wanted to go into space, Senku! You said we’d work together to get there-”

“I said we’d get man on the moon again, not that it would be me,” Senku stuck his pinky into his ear. “Jeez, don’t take it so personally…”

“But we need you, Senku!” Ryusui found his voice again, albeit a little shaky from the shock. “We need your scientific knowledge-”

“Chrome will be the one to take the role as lead scientist on this mission.”

“Huuuuuuuh?” Chrome blinked, pointing a finger at himself. “Me? In space?”

Senku grinned. “I’ll teach you everything you’ll need to know. It’s going to be one hell of a lesson plan, get excited!”

“I can’t take your place!” Chrome cried. “You should be the one in space! You would be-”

“Dead weight.” Senku stated.

“Dead weight?” Kohaku snapped. “You’re the furthest thing from dead weight and you know it!”

Senku sighed. “Calm down, lioness. I’m not putting myself down unnecessarily,” He held her gaze with a knowing smile. “I simply don’t have the stamina needed for space travel.”

There wasn’t a single person who could deny that.

Taiju sniffed. Tears stung his eyes as he looked his best friend in the eye. “We can train you, Senku!” Determination radiated off Taiju like a heater. “We can make it so you pass all of the tests, just like we did for Byakuya!”

Senku scoffed. “We don’t need to waste our time with pointless, feel-good training exercises when we have an entire space vessel to construct!” Senku shook his head before walking forward and placing a hand on Taiju’s sturdy shoulder. “Look, this isn’t the only time we can go to space. Once we figure out the secret to this why-man and save all of humanity, there will be plenty of time to go to space.” Senku chuckled to himself. “You three will be our first astronauts in thousands of years, and I’ll be your mission control. Just call me  _ Houston _ .”

A sob shook Taiju to his core. He covered his eyes with his arms, wailing against it. “But- but I want to call you Senku!”

Sad smiles spread across many faces as Taiju continued to cry. Senku made a face, hesitantly patting his friend’s shoulder before jumping out of the way of an impromptu hug.

“It’s okay, Taiju…” Kohaku cooed as she patted the large one on the back.

To Taiju, it was definitely not ok.

* * *

“Gen-kun?” Yuzuriha’s voice squeaked from the entrance of the five general’s hut. Oh, how long had it been since they had stepped foot here? And yet, it certainly felt like coming home, with how quickly they fell into routine.

Gen was the only one in the hut at the moment, sitting on a lumpy pillow, overlooking budget plans and approving Senku’s idiculous-ray schedule. How he ended up with these tasks, even he didn’t know, but better him than Senku or else they would have zero money left and not a single day off. “Yes, Yuzuriha-chan, how can I help you?” He purred as he set down the paperwork, eager for any distraction from his menial work.

Yuzuriha walked in slowly, taking a seat across from Gen and delicately tucking her legs underneath herself. “I’ve come to ask for your advice.”

“My advice, you say?” Gen grinned like a cat, leaning against the table with his chin in the palm of his hand. “What could you need my help with?”

Yuzuriha smiled sheepishly. “It’s about Taiju-kun…”

Gen’s smile only grew. “ _ Oh…? _ ”

The girl’s face suddenly flushed pink. “Not like that at all! It’s just… Taiju-kun’s been down lately, and I don’t know what I can do to help.``

Gen’s smile lost its devious twist. He pushed himself off the table, sighing wistfully. “He’s still upset about Senku, I see?”

“Yes,” Yuzuriha nodded. “I completely understand how he feels. We know Senku-kun can do it, we know he can even if we finish in just four years!” She looked up with determination in her eyes. “Senku-kun wants to put the mission before his dreams, but...!” She froze, the words frozen on the tip of her tongue. Hesitation shone behind her eyes, too afraid to speak her words into the universe.

“He should be a little selfish, sometimes,” Gen finished smoothly. “I agree.”

“Y-yes!” Yuzuriha squeaked, nodding enthusiastically. “Yes! And I know that has really upset Taiju-kun, so... Gen-kun, will you help me?” She leaned over the table, her eyes pleading with desperation. “Help me… make Taiju smile again?”

Gen chuckled at the girl across from him. “Let’s put a smile back on Taiju-chan’s face.”

* * *

Senku found himself in many strange situations lately.

During recruitment for the crafting team to help out Kaseki and Chrome, Senku was somehow volunteered to go deep-diving around Treasure Island with Amaryllis. He dove on the breaks from his seemingly-never-ending rocket design, searching for remnants of petrified people along the shallows. Amaryllis swam close by, practically playing chaperone as a veteran swimmer, signalling for others to dive down when they found someone encased in stone. 

With each circle around the island they found themselves in deeper water, further from the familiar and comforting shallows. There were still people down there, though, and Senku felt an obligation to to help retrieve them. 

He kept track of their time underwater, how much air was still in their tanks, and how long to wait for depressurization before returning to the surface. After four weeks of scuba diving in his off-time, Senku felt like he had become a fairly competent swimmer and diver. 

  
  
  


“Paging Dr. Senku!” Rang a voice across the cell phone in the Perseus.

Senku picked up the microphone. “Not a pager, not a Doctorate,  _ yet _ . What do you want, Mentalist?”

Ukyo laughed from across Senku, shaking his head as he sipped on his drink.

“So mean~ Have a little fun!” Gen coed through the line. Senku merely rolled his eyes as he waited for the mentalist to continue. “We’ve just finished two very impressive pieces of equipment here at base camp! We figured you might be interested in trying this… now what’s it called again, Chrome-chan?”

“A super spinner!” Chrome cheered. “This thing is baaaad, Senku! It’s three rings that all spin on different axis’-”

Senku sat up straight. “You built a Multi Axis Trainer?”

“IT ALREADY HAS A NAME?” Chrome cried.

The call was then filled with Chrome’s wailing and Gen’s laughter. “I knew it had a fancier name! Luckily, I know the name of the other one. Senku-chan, would you like to take a spin in the Centrifuge?”

Ukyo could have sworn he saw stars behind Senku’s eyes. The scientist looked up to the sonar specialist with a wide grin. “Nobody touches it until we get back!”

  
  
  
  


“The MAT is for training in case your vessel starts spinning in space!” Senku grinned as he pulled the switch, effectively sending Chrome spinning and turning in multiple directions. “If you start spinning out, you’re going to need to know how to get yourself stable again!”

“Baaaaaaaaaaad!” Chrome cried. “Make it stop, Senku! This is impossible!”

Senku huffed, throwing the switch in the off position. “You’re going to have to get on it every day to train if you’re already that disoriented.”

Chrome caught his breath as the machine stopped. “Like- aaah! Like you could do better!”

A devious grin spread across Senku’s face. “Move!”

The MAT wasn’t set up with anything that could stop the disoriented spinning yet, but being able to handle the erratic spinning would have to become second nature to them anyway. Senku strapped himself in, chuckling turning into full on laughter as the machine started to toss him around like a salad. “This is nothing! Like behind on a rollercoaster!”

“A what now?” Chrome yelled out, looking almost sick just watching Senku spin around.

Gen chuckled. “Senku looks like he has the hang of it. I wonder how long he could last…”

“We really shouldn’t be on this for longer than 45 seconds!” Senku called out between his laughter. “Blood will start rushing to the head and legs, making it an uncomfortable experience. In space, you’ll have to stop it yourself, but here we can go the full 45 seconds before taking a break.”

With that Chrome flipped the switch, powering down the machines that made the rings rotate. He and Gen moved the rings back in resting position before helping the disoriented Senku out of the seat. “You made that look easy!” Chrome laughed.

“You’ll get it down in no time, Chrome,” Senku grinned, turning his attention to the larger, more intimidating machine. “Now let's get to the good part…”

“Ryusui’s strapped up and ready to go!” Suika cried as she hopped off the loading platform. 

“Senku, there you are!” Ryusui cried, craning his neck to look out of the capsule he sat in waiting. “Come, take the first centrifuge voyage with me!”

“Chrome…?” Senku turned to the fellow scientist.

“Nuh-uh, nope, you go ahead.” Chrome insisted.

Senku chuckled, hoping into the capsule and strapping into the extra seat. “That just means you’ll go in the next round with Taiju!” He called out as he tightened the straps.

Chrome leaned against the opening with his arms crossed. “Yeah, sure, whatever… What is this thing training us for, anyway?”

“It’s training for reentry into earth’s atmosphere,” Senku informed, craning his neck to grin at Chrome. “The soyuz was known to experience eight to nine times G-force upon reentry. This centrifuge will simulate that, ensuring that you will be able to function under those conditions.”

“Damn…” Chrome muttered under his breath. “Space travel is crazy…”

“Excited yet?” Senku chuckled.

The loading platform was cleared, and from a safe distance the onlookers watched with bated breath as the machine roared to life and began to spin. They could hear Senku and Ryusui through the communications set up inside, hearing them start with subdued “Woahs,” to full on screaming. 

They only lasted for two minutes.

* * *

Six months of planning, construction, and training flew by in a flash.

Not much was done, but most of the plans were finalized, and mock-up of equipment and technologies were already being developed and improved upon. Upgrades were made to the MAT and Centrifuge, the former allowing for the participant to act against the forces being exerted upon them and the later running through reentry protocol to ingrain the procedure in their minds. 

Senku found himself once again volunteered to go on diving exercises, not that he minded much. He considered them welcome breaks, a task that challenged him in a different way. Amaryllis had suggested they use the calmer waters of an alcove from the “zero gravity training” exercises that Senku had mentioned, and they took a tour of the underwater haven to check it out. It was a perfect place, and Senku’s mind was racing with so many ideas of training exercises he would put the big oaf, the greedy man, and the local sciencer up to do.

They swam back up to the surface, greeted immediately by Chrome reaching his hand out to them. “How was it?”

“It’s perfect!” Senku clasped the hand, pulling himself up onto the Perseus’ deck with Amaryllis close behind. “I have about ten ideas just from one glance!”

“I’ll tell Ryusui about the plans, then.” Amaryllis called as she walked up the ramp.

Chrome grinned, turning back to Senku with excitement shining behind his eyes. “All right! Can’t wait to try it!”

Senku chuckled. “Try getting better at the MAT, first.”

“Hey!” Chrome pouted. “I’m trying!” Senku chuckled, wringing out his hair, which surprisingly was all it took for the floof to stand straight up again. Chrome bit at his lip. “Hey, Senku, I was thinking…”

“Huh?” Senku looked over with a raised eyebrow.

Chrome forced out a smile. “You said Astronauts had to pass a bunch of exams before going to space, right? Do you think we should design a test to see if Taiju, Ryusui, and I can handle it?”

Senku hummed, sticking his pinky in his ear. “You’ve already been chosen, so I don’t see the point.”

“But dude, I suck at the MAT!” Chrome shouted, before slapping his hand over his mouth. 

Senku chuckled. “You do, but I also know you’ve been skipping practice,” Senku slowly frowned. “What are you really concerned about, Chrome?”

Chrome fidgeted, scratching the back of his head. “You got me, haha…” Chrome turned his big, brown eyes up to Senku. “I guess I’m just… afraid I’m not cut out for it, but if I can pass this exam…!” Chrome tightened his hands into fists. “If I can do that, then I know I’ll be able to do it!”

Senku blinked at his friend, the smartest man in the stone world. A grin slowly stretched across his face. “We can do the swimming test. 75 meters without stopping.”

“Woah…” Chrome muttered.

“That would be easy enough, but what will really test you is 75 meters in your flight suit without stopping. That’s what held my old man back, anyway.”

Chrome’s eyes shone bright. “Yeah, we can do that! Our mock flight suits are ready!”

Senku chuckled. “If you can pass this test without any problems, we’ll call you space ready. Deal?”

“Deal!” Chrome cheered, shoving his fist in the air. “Woohoo!”

* * *

The sun was starting to fall behind the trees. 

Senku leaned against the car door, eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the treeline on the side of the road for a sign of something, anything. Gen slowed the car to a stop, looking to Senku with hesitation. “It’s getting late, Senku-chan…”

“They’re out here.” Was all Senku said. 

Gen looked behind him, seeing Kohaku and Kinro’s shared sympathetic looks. He was about to put the car in drive when a resounding scream filled the air.

Gen had never seen Senku move so fast. He jumped out of the car and into the trees, barely catching himself as he slid down a steep hill into a bed of leaves and sticks. He picked himself up to blink at the scene in front of him.

The cart had crashed into a tree at the bottom of the hill. The wheels were broken and splintered. Iron ore was tossed in every direction. 

Taiju and Yuzuriha sat under a tree. Yuzuriha was tightening a wrap around Taiju’s leg, and said man was squirming from the pain. Senku jogged forward, nearly falling once he reached their side. “There you are! What happened?”

“Senku-kun!” Yuzuriha cried, wrapping her arms tightly around Senku’s neck. “I’m so glad! We- there was an accident, and-and-!”

“I’m fine!” Taiju squeaked, his signature smile twisted with pain. “Never been healthier!”

Senku looked to the girl next to him, not missing the tears in the corners of her big brown eyes. “I think it’s broken, Senku-kun…”

The scientist immediately reached into his pouch. “Take these painkillers. It won’t make the pain go away, but it should help.Kohaku and Kinro are with me, they’ll take you to the car.”

“But, the delivery…” Taiju groaned as he tried to sit up more, only to be pushed down by Senku. “Senku, it’s going to be late!”

“I got it, you big oaf!” Senku huffed, standing once he heard Kohaku and Kinro stomping through the leaves behind him. Gen will take you and Yuzuriha home, and the three of us will carry the shipment to base.”

Yuzuriha gasped. “Senku, it’s ten kilometers away!”

Senku chuckled deviously. “We’ll have to hurry if we want to stay on schedule…”

It was a tricky situation, but they managed to situate Taiju in the back of the car, with his leg propped up. Taiju immediately lolled his head back, groaning into the evening air.

“Will he be all right, Senku-kun?” Yuzuriha asked with tears in her eyes. “I… I did my best to keep him comfortable all day, but he hasn’t gotten any sleep, and-”

Senku opened the passenger side door and put a hand on Yuzuriha’s shoulder. “He’ll be fine. Look, the big oaf is already asleep!” Senku grinned at the snoring figure in the back seat. “He probably didn’t want to sleep in case you were put in danger.”

Yuzuriha’’s face lit up red. “But-”

“You need rest, too. Come on.” Senku escorted the small girl into the car. 

Gen started the car again, and Yuzuriha leaned over the side as she called out “Thank you, Senku-kun!”

Senku grinned, not making any motion to say that he heard her thanks. His cool posing was abruptly ended by the sound of a large Thud behind him. He turned to see the three monstrously large baskets of ore.

Baskets made specifically for Taiju and his crazy strength.

“Here’s all of it!” Kohaku sighed, shaking her head at the load they had to haul. “We want to get this back before sunrise, right?”

“I believe this is doable,” Kinro noted as he took a basket and adjusted it on his back. Senku did not like how Kinro strained against the weight. “Hngh! Yes, this is… doable…”

Kohaku donned her pack easily. “Hey, not so bad! Taiju can really pull his weight, huh? You ready, Senku?”

Senku looked at the last basket. It was obvious that they filled it the least out of the three of them, but just looking at it made Senku break into a sweat. It took 10 minutes and assistance from Kohaku to get it on his shoulders without throwing off his balance and sending him crashing into the ground.

“All right…” Senku said, brushing the sweat off his forehead before dawning a headlamp for their night trip. “Let’s go!”

* * *

Gen, Ukyo, Ryusui, and Chrome waited impatiently for Senku’s return.

“I estimate that he will be back in three hours…” Ukyo muttered, adjusting the sleeve of his coat to guard against the cold wind. “Any longer than that and we should be worried.”

“I would be impressed if he made it back in two!” Ryusui commented. “It would show great growth on his part.”

“Senku will at least try to keep up with Kohaku and Kinro,” Chrome noted, thinking back to previous spelunking experiences. “He’ll trail a bit, but he won't be left behind. Two and a half hours should do it.”

Nobody could believe their eyes when Senku led the group out of the woods in only an hour and 40 minutes.

“Welcome home!” Gen called cheerfully, offering Senku a cold cup of water. Senku downed it in two seconds. “Easy, Senku-chan!”

Senku gasped for air, immediately dropping the heavy basket off his back. “Ten kilometers… with a Taiju sized haul of ore… one hour, 42 minutes, and 36 seconds… I’m going to sleep...”

“Good night, Senku!” Ukyo called as the scientist stumbled away.

“Remember, bright and early tomorrow!” Ryusui added.

“UGH.” Senku groaned, slamming the door to his hut.

Nobody dared to wake him the next day.

* * *

“Senku, we have something for you!” Taiju cried as he hobbled into the general’s hut on his splinted leg. Turns out he wasn’t hurt that bad, Senku had noted from a simple glance up from his designs. Yuzuriha was following close behind, as well as Kaseki and Amaryllis. The rest of the generals greeted the four of them with warm smiles, and Senku felt compelled to lower the paper in his grasp as Taiju placed a box in front of him. “Tah-dah!”

Senku blinked. He regarded everyone’s kind smiles skeptically before lifting the lid to the box. He reached inside, pulling out one of the mock suits, composed of padded layers of nylon, a feet that could only be done by combining Kaseki’s and Yuzuriha’s fantastic abilities. His eye was immediately drawn to the patch over the left breast pocket, where his name was embroidered in red lettering. Senku’s eyes grew wide, looking up to the smiling faces surrounding him in awe. “What is this?”

“It’s your suit, Senku-kun!” Yuzuriha cried, tears forming in the corners of her eyes once she finally saw it in Senku’s hands.

“Ohoho, you have no idea how hard it was for Yuzuriha-chan and I to keep this a secret from you!” Kaseki added with great pride.

“I…” Senku swallowed the lump his throat. “I don’t need a suit, I'm not going to space.”

“Now now, Senku-chan!” Gen gave his cheshire grin. “You can’t mean that, not after all the hard work we’ve put you through for the past few months~!”

“What do you-?” Senku’s eyes grew wide before he shot a glare across the room. “You-”

“SURPRISE!” Taiju ripped the splint off his leg, putting his full weight on it while laughing.

Senku shot to his feet. “What the hell, you big oaf! I was worried as hell-!”

“Carrying all that weight was probably good astronaut training, isn’t it, Senku?” Ukyo grinned, lifting his hat to show the mischief behind his emerald eyes.

Senku gaped. “You were all in on this… The long treks, the training equipment, the scuba diving-!” Senku scanned the room. “How long have you planned this?”

“Since like, what, the beginning?” Chrome laughed. “We knew we could squeeze some training into your schedule, right Gen?”

“That’s right~!” Gen coed. “Since I was in charge of that, after all.”

“You’ve become very nimble underwater,” Amaryllis noted with her dazzling smile. “I bet space has nothing on your swimming skills!”

“And you’ve mastered the MAT, and the Centrifuge!” Ryusui cheered. “Much better than Chrome!”

“Hey!”

“No matter the stress we put on you, whether its long distance travel or carrying heavy objects, you’ve pulled through all of it!” Ukyo’s smile only grew wider. “You’re breathing stays normal for a lot longer, and you take less breaks!”

Taiju stepped forward, placing a hand on Senku’s shoulder. “We believed in you, Senku! There’s no one else I’ll go to space with. It has to be you!”

Senku looked dumbfounded. He looked across the room, his eyes settling on the suit in his grasp. His eyebrows furrowed as he ran his thumb over the namepatch on the suit, uncertainty plain on his face.

Gen hummed loudly. “Of course, you still have to pass the test.”

Senku looked up. “Test?”

“Oh yeah! The clothed swimming test!” Chrome jumped to his feet. “You said if we pass this test, we can call ourselves space ready!” Chrome grinned, holding out his hand. “You ready to put yourself to the test?”

Senku felt his chest tighten. He looked down at the suit given to him, at the delicate embroidery that Yuzuriha stitched his name in. He bit his cheek to hold back his tears. 

"You're on." 

* * *

Senku took a deep breath as he readied himself on the edge of the boat. All he had to do was swim to the Perseus from here. Swimming was easy. Hell, diving was easy. But this suit was baggy, and he didn’t have much experience swimming in clothing. No wonder his old man had a hard time with this.

Members of the Kingdom of science lined the shoreline, screaming out encouragement as he prepared to take the dive and start along the predetermined route. He could have sworn he heard Taiju’s voice the loudest, screaming his name all the way from shore. Senku found himself grinning, giving a nod to Kohaku in the boat before he adjusted his goggles turned back towards the water.

He took the dive.

He tasted salt every time he took a breath. His suit was resisting him, but he adjusted his motions to accommodate the drag. The screaming from the shore grew louder, but was swallowed by the rushing against his face.

“Come on, Senku!” He heard Kohaku cheer. She was right there, following him; his insurance in case anything went wrong.

He wouldn't let anything go wrong.

He was stronger now. 

He was comfortable in the water. 

He couldn't wait to abandon gravity. 

Senku grinned against the waves. Everyone worked so hard for his sake. Even when he tried to put his wishes on the shelf for the sake of the mission, they dragged him right back into this.

He would not let their efforts go to waste.

“YOU CAN DO IT, SENKU!” He could hear Chrome’s screaming from in front of him now. He was so close, he was almost there! If he wasn’t so preoccupied, he would laugh.

_ Idiot, I’m taking your spot on the rocket for this _ .

Senku realized that perhaps Chrome didn’t care.

His suit weighed him down, draggin against him. How was this thing so heavy? He felt bad for giving his old man a hard time all those years ago, but only a little bit.

Said guilt was completely forgotten when he reached the ramp to the Perseus, successfully pulling himself up and out of the water.

The screams could be heard around the world.

Ishigami Senku made it. He finished the clothed swimming test, first try!

The generals pulled the panting scientist to his feet, each slapping him on the back or trying to pull him into a hug, which he resisted at full force.

“You did it, Senku!” Chrome sobbed, tears falling down his cheeks as he began to hiccup. “You really did it!”

“With some energy to spare!” Ryusui complimented with a firm pat on his back.

Ukyo was nearly jumping in excitement. “You’re going to space, Senku!”

“As expected from our determined leader…” Gen tried to conceal his overall excitement, but couldn’t surprise his smile even a millimeter.

“SENKU!!!” The generals turned to see Taiju swimming up to the Perseus at full speed. In a matter of Seconds, Taiju had climbed onto the boat and pulled the squirming scientist into a hug. “YOU DID IT! I’M…. SENKU!”

“I GOT IT, I GOT IT, AND I’M SENKU, YOU BIG OAF!” Senku yelled, kicking his feet and willing out of Taiju’s strong grasp. He collapsed to the deck, leaning his head back towards the sky as grin spread across his face. “I couldn’t have done it without all of you.”

  
  



End file.
